Long, long shotThere are many things to be gained when kids participate in high school sports, but a college scholarship might not be one of them

JENNY DIAL , Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle |
February 1, 2010

Former Friendswood standout swimmer Cole Cragin is one of the few high school athletes whose hard work eventually turned into an athletic scholarship.

Photo By L. Scott Hainline/For the Chronicle

All the hard work and time Cole Cragin spent in the pool paid off with a scholarship to the University of Texas.

It’s tough for Cole Cragin to put a dollar amount on his swimming career. The Texas freshman could add the money spent on pool fees, equipment, coaches and gas for the two-hour commute to practice every day for nearly three years. But that’s only part of it.

He can’t really put a price tag on the time spent focusing on his sport, working in the pool or traveling to events. And he doesn’t really want to add up all the day-to-day things he missed — friends’ birthday parties, family get-togethers and high school football games.

But the former Friendswood swimmer now knows those sacrifices led him to something many want and few are able to earn — an athletic scholarship.

Although Cragin reached his goal, the numbers don’t lie. While Cragin’s story isn’t a rarity, his ending often is. The chances for any student-athlete to earn an athletic scholarship are slim.

Cragin was one of more than 6,000 boys swimming competitively for Texas high schools in the University Interscholastic League. In 2007-08, there were 891 Division I swimming scholarships given nationally.

“I had an idea that I could be good enough to get a scholarship,” Cragin said. “But that’s not why I stuck to swimming. I don’t think anyone should play a sport just to get a scholarship.”

Although Cragin’s journey to a scholarship was a long shot, it wasn’t the longest. A study of numbers provided by the National High School Federation and the NCAA shows that the participants in boys wrestling have the longest odds of earning an athletic scholarship. Boys soccer is a close second.

In those two sports, the number of Division I scholarships offered in a given year accounts for less than half a percent of high school participants.

The sport with the highest percentage of high school participants earning at least a partial athletic scholarship is girls golf at 1.6 percent.

Football ranks second, with 1.4 percent of its high school participants in a given year earning a scholarship at a Division I university.

“We stress to parents and students everywhere that you should participate in athletics for the values and benefits that sports can give, not because you want a scholarship,” said Kevin Lennon, the NCAA’s vice president of membership services.

A costly endeavor

The NCAA gives thousands of scholarships every year and spends millions of dollars on the education of student-athletes, but the process of earning a scholarship isn’t easy, and the time and money parents spend on athletics continues to climb.

That’s because natural talent alone isn’t enough. These days, it’s as much about private coaching and national exposure.

In basketball, college recruiters swarm the Amateur Athletic Union summer leagues. AAU play costs anywhere from $350 to $500 plus travel to national tournaments. In soccer, club and development teams are popular. Depending on the club level, the fees can be as much as $2,000 per year.

Young golfers take private lessons, which can run as much as $100 per session. And you have to add those costs to shoes, equipment, travel, ticket prices for family and gas money.

While girls golf has the highest percentage of athletes who receive a scholarship, it is one of the most expensive sports for high school students to play. A survey of several parents of boys and girls golfers in the area shows that on average, they spent nearly $11,000 a year on the sport.

Basketball parents spent an average of $4,900 over six years, and parents of junior and senior soccer boys and girls spent an average of $8,000 for two years.

With 1.4 percent of its participants going on to earn a college scholarship, football is the most economic sport for high school athletes. On average, a football player spends about $300 a year for offseason expenses.

For parents like Audrey Gilbreath, the expenses are twofold. Her daughters, Briana and Stefanie, were standouts at Cinco Ranch High School, and both have full basketball scholarships at Southern Cal. Gilbreath said her family spent a lot on their daughters’ basketball, but the money was well spent.

Gilbreath said after years of spending time and money on her daughters’ interest in basketball, she has seen the payoff. Throughout high school, she stressed academics and told her daughters not to expect basketball to get them into college.

“I think that since we always made them focus on their grades, they were able to learn time management and commitment,” she said. “My daughters were fortunate enough to get scholarships, but even if they hadn’t, I think that basketball has made a big difference in their lives.”

No matter the monetary cost, athletic commitment means sacrifice. Eisenhower defensive back Allen Veazie, who expects to sign a football scholarship with Minnesota on Wednesday, said he and his friends cut grass to save up for football camps in the summer.

“You went to camps to learn and develop your skills, but you needed to be conditioned and in shape before you got there or you wouldn’t be able to get noticed by scouts,” Veazie said. “That meant I didn’t have a real offseason. I’d go home, finish homework and work out, always making sure I was strong and ready.”

Cypress Creek defensive lineman Will Hampton, who is committed to Northwestern, said he missed a lot of the events most high school students participate in either doing homework or working out.

“I knew that playing at the next level would be tough, but I also knew that if I had any shot, I had to work really hard in the classroom and on the field,” he said. “I missed a lot of parties and games and just regular hanging out.”

No regrets

Not every athlete has a success story. Lennon said students should keep their focus on the emotional benefits sports provide. He said parents should stay informed. The NCAA has a Web site called the NCAA Eligibility Center to provide information parents need as their children attempt to earn an athletic scholarship.

The process can be tedious and sometimes discouraging, but for the ones who are lucky, it is all worth it.

“I don’t regret anything I missed in high school because I am in a very good place now,” Cragin said. “But to anyone who is competing in a sport and maybe doesn’t have that chance to get to the next level, I’d give the advice to play it anyway. If you love it, if you are learning how to be a determined, responsible person from playing a sport, play it for those reasons and it will still be worth it.”